Evaluate PM-KUSUM's role in turning *Annadata* into *Urjadata*. What design changes should a dedicated Agri-PV component include?

PM-KUSUM (2019) aims to make farmers Urjadata (energy-givers) by letting them set up solar plants of up to 2 MW on their own land. On cultivated fields, panels must be mounted on stilts [2]. The scheme has done well at solarising irrigation but much less well at turning farmers into power producers.

Achievements

• Reach: the scheme had over 20 lakh beneficiaries by late 2025 [1].
• Second income: farmers who lease land for solar plants can earn up to ₹80,000/ha a year [1]. In ministry-cited cases, crop and power income together rose from about ₹60,000 to over ₹1 lakh per acre [7].
• Credit access: the scheme is covered by the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, which offers interest subvention [6].

Limitations

• Farmer-owned plants lag: Component A built only 641 MW against a 10,000 MW target by July 2025 [3]. That is about 6% of target, compared with 60% for stand-alone pumps [4].
• No subsidy, costly land conversion: the Estimates Committee named the lack of central financial assistance and costly land-use conversion as the main barriers [3].
• Groundwater risk: solar pumping costs almost nothing per extra hour, so farmers tend to over-extract. Grid-connected designs, where farmers can sell surplus power, give them a reason to save water [5].
• Height, not harvest: the only design rule is that panels are raised and rows spaced apart [2]. Nothing checks how much crop is grown underneath.

Verdict: the pump components have worked, but the Urjadata goal is still largely unmet.

Design changes for the Agri-PV component The proposed 10 GW Agri-PV component of PM-KUSUM 2.0 [7] should include:

• Central financial assistance for small plants, as the Estimates Committee recommended [3], combined with AIF loans [6].
• Agricultural status kept: States should exempt certified Agri-PV plots from land-use conversion.
• Minimum crop yield: subsidy paid only if the field keeps a fixed share of its normal yield. ICAR should set this share for each agro-climatic zone, using the crop-impact study the Committee asked for [3].
• Water safeguard: prefer grid-connected designs in over-exploited groundwater blocks [5].
• Pooling through FPOs and cooperatives, which the scheme already allows [2], so that smallholders can combine their land.

PM-KUSUM has built the base for solar power on farms. Making farmers Urjadata now needs financing, land rules and a yield safeguard designed for farmer-owned plants. A redesigned Agri-PV component would let farmers earn from both crops and power, and advance SDG 2 and SDG 7 together.